The Portrait
by balletlover
Summary: Everyone knew Dumbledore loved inter-house unity but they never suspected, when they were working at the ministry after his death, that he would team up with a few others. DM/HG oneshot


**HEY!**

**So, about the sequel to Bonded by Blood... I'm extremely lazy to continue and have no inspiration for it so I've been doing other fics (like this!) and I have a bunch of other ideas that I'm planning to turn into stories soon. I don't think I'll finish the sequel and as of now, Bonded by Blood is a stand alone.**

**Anyway, here's another oneshot for you. Basically all you need to know is that it's post war and they work at the ministry :) oh and that I don't own Harry Potter**

**This is dedicated to Zoe and Alice who just celebrated their birthdays so HAPPY BIRTHDAY GUYS!  
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><p>Draco was in shock. Frozen on the spot. One would've thought he was stunned. It was a full ten minutes before he recovered, blinking repeatedly. His cheek was still tingling. Ready to chase after her, he sprinted to the nearest fireplace to floo. Seeing as he was already leaving the ministry quite late when it happened most of the fireplaces had been disconnected for the night. Waiting, or rather, standing in shock, for ten minutes didn't help him catch the last open fireplace and all had been sealed while he was spaced out.<p>

Cursing, he ran back to his office and grabbed the broom he kept there at all times. As soon as he was out of the ministry, he mounted his broom and took off. So what if it was raining, he would get to her even if it killed him!

As he hovered over the ministry he realized that he had no idea where she lived. From what he heard she lived somewhere near Potter used to live when they were at Hogwarts. He decided to go to the only person who was close enough to her that might actually tell him — Luna Lovegood. Luckily, she only lived a few blocks away. He flew as fast as possible to her house. Landing on the grass in from of her house he was sure it was the right one. He opened the fence and knocked loudly on her door.

"Hello, Malfoy. What brings you here?" she asked opening the door.

"I need to know where Granger lives" he said.

"You're quite wet. Muggles have this thing called an umbrella for when it's raining but I prefer getting wet, brings good luck, you know" she told him dreamily.

"I don't have time for this. Do you know where Granger lives or not?" he demanded harshly.

"If you have to ask you will never know. But if you know, you need only ask" she said.

"How does that make sense?"

"First tell me the answer to this question: which came first, the phoenix or the flame?" Luna asked calmly.

Draco sucked in a deep breath to clam himself. "I don't know. What does this have to do with finding out where Granger lives?" he asked.

"Maybe another question would be easier. Where do vanished objects go?"

"Into everything. Now tell me where Granger lives!" he demanded.

"You would've made a good Ravenclaw. I suppose I could tell you since you answered correctly..." she told him.

"Finally!" he exclaimed.

"Number 13 Privet Drive" she said pointing somewhere in the distance.

"That place doesn't exist. When the death eaters were looking for Potter that street only went up to 12" Draco said.

"If you have to ask you will never know. But if you know, you need only ask" she reminded him before she closed the door leaving him to think over what she had just said.

"Mental. Should get herself checked into Saint Mugo's insanity ward..." he muttered to himself as he mounted his broom and took off again in the direction Luna had pointed.

The rain was falling harder than it was before, forcing him to land behind muggle coffee shop. He decided he might as well wait for the rain to stop. He was about to enter the coffee shop when he noticed several people giving him odd looks. He glared at them before he realized it was a muggle establishment, therefore he was the one who looked quite stupid wearing robes and carrying a broom. He went back behind the shop and transfigured his broom into an umbrella and his robes into jeans and a t-shirt.

He ordered a coffee and sat down to wait for the rain to lessen. Normally he wouldn't even be in a muggle place but he was desperate. By the time he had finished his coffee the rain had slowed to a drizzle and he set off again, transfiguring the umbrella back into a broom.

It was almost 11 by the time he had arrived. He stood where Dumbledore had put out the lamppost with his deluminator almost 18 years ago, though he Draco did not know this. Walking along the empty street he passed the houses one by one until he got to the number 12. It was the last house in the street before several large empty lots. He stood in front of what would've been number 13 had there been a house and glared at the empty lot that seemed to be mocking him.

"Dammit, I need to find Granger!" he yelled.

As soon as those words left his mouth a house appeared where the empty lot used to sit. He blinked in surprise before walking up to the door and knocking. Hermione opened the door and raised her eyebrow at his appearance.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" she asked.

"What's that spell on your house that makes it invisible unless you know it's there?" he asked.

"Something I invented. How did you find me?"

"Loony Lovegood. Would've been here sooner if she'd stop talking in riddles and stay on topic" he told her.

"So tell me why you're here in the first place, must've been desperate to come here at this time and in the rain" she said still standing in the doorway.

"Flew here from the ministry too, all the fireplaces were closed by the time I left" he added.

"You know, it would've saved you a lot of trouble if you had just flown to the nearest apparitition point, which by the way is just a block from the ministry, and apparated here" she told him.

"Didn't know where here was. I had to ask Lovegood first" he said. "Aren't you going to invite me in? It's quite late and I just flew two hours in the rain"

"We're not exactly friends and you come here at 11pm with no explanation and expect me to invite you in like it's the most normal thing in the world?" she asked incredulously.

"Please, Granger, just give me a minute to explain myself" he said. She had half a mind to say no, close the door and just ignore him but it was the first time she had heard him say please in all 9 years of knowing him.

"I suppose you could come in. Dry yourself up first before sitting on the couch" she said making room for him to enter. He sat down on the couch in front of the fireplace where Dumbleodre's portrait hung. It seemed that even as a portrait he had that mysterious twinkle in his eyes.

"Minute's ticking" Hermione said.

"Geez, Granger, why are you in such a foul mood, Weasel finally leave?" he smirked.

"Ron and I were never together and if you think you can just come here to provoke me I will not hesitate to punch you like I did in third year and throw you out of my house! You have one minute" she growled.

"It took me 2 hours to get here because the fireplaces had closed since I left past 9. I grabbed my broom and flew to Lovegood's house in the rain. Then I had to put up with her idiocy and answer stupid questions just to get her to tell me where you lived. By the time I found out, it was raining harder than it was to begin with so I had to land again behind some muggle cafe where I stopped for a coffee. After the rain slowed down I flew here only to discover there wasn't any house with the number 13. I was ready to curse Lovegood and I said I needed to find you so the house finally appeared. You know the rest" he explained. Hermione looked at the clock behind him.

"Minute's up and you still haven't explained why you're here. Get out" she told him.

"I was getting here! Give me another minute, Granger! I'm not done with my story!" he defended.

"No, Malfoy. Out! Now!" she said in a dangerously low voice.

"Let me explain!" he insisted.

"If you aren't put of my house in 10 seconds I will hex you into next century" she said.

"Merlin knows she can..." Draco muttered to himself.

"10...9...8..." she counted.

"I'm going but this isn't done" he told her getting up and leaving.

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><p>Over the next few weeks Hermione avoided him as much as possible at the ministry an whenever their paths did cross she would pretend he didn't exist.<p>

Draco on the other hand seemed to be going out of his way to run into her as much as possible. He would try and talk to her, to no avail. There was something wrong lately with him, Blaise noticed. He was angrier than normal and refused to talk to Blaise.

It was exactly 3 weeks since the incident when Draco finally snapped. Grabbing his broom he left the ministry and set off for her house. A feeling of deja vu overcame him as it started to rain. The rain was pouring harder than last time and he could barely see two feet ahead of himself. He contemplated stopping and just apparating home but decided to go on despite the horrible weather. He couldn't apparate directly to her house because she lived in a muggle town and the ministry, ever since Voldemort's downfall, had taken stricter precautions about apparition.

Cursing inwardly at his decision to leave the ministry so late yet again he struggled with the winds and the rains trying to force him down. If he didn't know any better he would've said she somehow controlled the weather and was using it against him. He was regretting not staying instead when he had some sort of chance. He reached her place by quarter past 11. This time he didn't waste time trying to find her house since he already knew how to get past her personal concealment charm.

Still soaking wet he stood on her porch and knocked on the door. She opened it with a blank expression on her face which turned to a glare upon seeing who it was.

"Is it a habit of yours to come to people at 11 pm on wednesdays dripping wet?" she asked.

"Ha ha, Granger. I'm here to explain what should've been explained 3 weeks ago" he told her.

"We both know what happened 3 weeks ago. I gave you enough time to explain yourself and why you followed your friend and his dare to kiss me" she said with a straight face.

"If I recall correctly, 1 minute isn't exactly a lot of time to explain something that big" he replied smoothly.

"So you admit it was a dare. That's all I needed to know" she told him, attempting to shut the door. She would've been successful had his foot not blocked the way.

"Granger, I flew for at least an hour and a half in the rain twice to explain to you and you won't even give me one bloody minute of your time to explain" he said testily.

"What's there to explain, Malfoy? I know what you're doing! You and your little friends are trying to bring me down by playing around with my feelings. As for the flying for an hour and a half, I couldn't care less. Flying was never my thing if you haven't noticed" she said.

"Don't test my patience, Granger. I did not fly all the way here for you to tell me to leave. So what if you hate flying, I'm the one that suffered in the rain. You think Blaise and Pansy were scheming against you, they weren't. They were scheming against me and if you give me another minute I'll explain further" he said taking a deep breath to calm himself.

"Come in then" she sighed in defeat.

He stepped inside and dried himself quickly with a simple charm before sitting in the exact same spot he sat the last time he was there. This felt a little too familiar for both of them that instead of sitting in front of him, like she did last time, Hermione sat beside him, leaving enough room for another person to be able to sit comfortably. Dumbledore smiled mysteriously from his portrait and had a knowing look in his eye. She looked expectantly at him.

"What do you want to know first?" he asked.

"Why" she said.

"'Why' what?" he asked.

"You kissed me if it wasn't some stupid plan of yours" she glared.

"I didn't plan it, Blaise and Pansy did. Here's the deal, before I tell you anything else you tell me why you hate me so much for it" he smirked.

"And why should I? This is my house. I can kick you out if I choose to" she reminded him.

"Yes but I know something you don't and are desperate to find out" he told her.

"Because I know you and your friends, you decided to just have a laugh and toy with my feelings when Parkinson knows from Ginny that I..." she stopped abruptly.

"I...?" he prompted.

"Never you mind. Now tell me why" she ordered.

"I think I know what happened here" he said. "You think Blaise dared me to kiss you because we were playing a prank on you when in reality, Pansy and Blaise were getting back at me for our last game of exploding snap which, by the way, I lost. Apparently Pansy knows something I don't"

"About what?" Hermione asked.

"Whatever the Weasley girl told her that you won't tell me" he answered.

"So you flew all the way here twice just to tell me that kissing me was a consequence for losing a game of exploding snap?" she asked. "You need to sort out your priorities"

"No?" he said.

She raised her eyebrows at him. "Yes?"He tried again.

"Well?" she asked.

"Let's go with no" he told her.

"So what's your real reason?"

"I wasn't finished with my story yet. When I kissed you it was part of my consequence and at first you seemed to like it but then you slapped me and ran off. It reminded me of back in third year when you punched me but much less painful. For some reason, from that kiss and slap I was knocked into my senses, or rather out of them seeing as I only chased after you after about 10 minutes. Then I realized a few minutes ago that if Pansy knows something and she and Blaise were the one who made my consequence something's definitely going on here" he said.

"What are you trying to say?" she asked.

"I'm saying that Pansy knew I liked you long before I did and since you said that she knows something that Weaelette told her then I can safely assume that Pansy decided to play matchmaker" he told her. She was silent for a while as it sunk in.

"Can I safely assume you can forgive me then for the next thing I'm going to do?" she asked with a smirk to rival his own.

"It depends on what it is" he said. She slapped him.

"Ow!" he yelled caressing his cheek.

"Oh shut up" she told him before pulling him closer and kissing him soundly.

The Dumbledore in the portrait smiled and left to go to another painting of his.

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><p>Back at the burrow Ginny grinned. She was glad she had teamed up with Slytherins. It was their idea, after all, to hang Dumbledore's portrait in Hermione's house where he could watch and report everything to them when he returned to the duplicate of the same painting that hung in the burrow.<p>

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading.<strong>

**You don't have to review if you don't feel like it but I'd appreciate it if you do. I'm also aware that they are very OOC and that I have horrible grammar so you don't need to tell me that :)**


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